1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique capable of controlling installation of a device driver to use a peripheral device, such as a printer.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, to use a peripheral device (e.g., a printer or a scanner) via an information processing apparatus (e.g., a personal computer), the information processing apparatus is required to incorporate a specific device driver applicable to the peripheral device. For example, in a case where a user uses a plurality of peripheral devices, the user installs the same number of printer drivers on the user's information processing apparatus. In this case, the user is forced to perform a troublesome installation work, which includes checking of an Internet Protocol (IP) address of each peripheral device and searching for an applicable device driver.
To solve the above-described problem, there is a conventional technique capable of efficiently performing the installation work. For example, a conventional system discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-135414 receives configuration information from a peripheral device that is accessible via a network and installs an applicable device driver on an information processing apparatus.
According to the conventional technique discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-135414, it is required to install the device driver beforehand when a user requests a print operation. However, for example, at the print request time when the printing is requested via a general application, a printer accessible via the network may not be present, for example, if the information processing apparatus is relocated to another setup position. Further, at the print request time, a new printer that the user wants to use may be accessible via the network. Accordingly, it is strongly desired to provide an appropriate method for installing a desired printer driver timely at the print request time, namely, when the printing is requested via the general application.